I have more questions than answers. But I believe in something much bigger and try to share the little glimpses I see. Please share yours. Together we can create more - I believe.

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

No Truly Lone Wolves

By Dee Lane - My cousin and kindred spirit

There Are No Truly Lone Wolves

One must take exception to the theory
that claims “lone wolves” are the cause for the increase in mass
shootings. This “lone wolf” idea is simply another way for the
Social Darwinists and the Ayn Randians to blame only the flawed
individual who perpetrated the act, while not dealing with the social
and economic root causes that contribute to such violent behavior.

A survivor of the
Mother Emanuel Church massacre, Marcus Stanley, rightly stated in his
Facebook posting to assailant Dylann Roof, “Somewhere along the
line, you were taught to hate people that are not like you…” It
is this fundamental truth that merely blaming the individual fails to
address. Those who teach hatred and intolerance enable violent
behavior, and as such, also have blood on their hands. We as a
society need to take action against hate groups; they are homegrown
terrorists who are indoctrinating people with their violent agenda in
exactly the same manner as ISIS. We need to out these groups for the
terrorist organizations that they are.

Secondly, we need stricter gun laws and
to stop telling religious leaders to arm themselves. Any place of
worship, regardless of religion, is a spiritual and physical
sanctuary. There is simply no place for guns in any sanctified
space. The increasing frequency of mass shooting events also
indicates that the lack of gun legislation is making the massacre
problem worse. Guns must be kept out of the hands of hate groups and
the violent individuals; such organizations and people do not have
any legitimate Second Amendment rights.

Thirdly, we must address economic
inequality which is rapidly leaving more and more people behind, and
stop merely blaming individuals. The system is broken and rigged in
favor of the top one percent, leaving most people with little or no
hope of a better life. That said, there is nothing more dangerous
than an individual or group that has nothing to lose. As income
inequality has increased, so too has the level of desperation and the
number of mass shootings.

None of this excuses Dylann Roof, or
any other assailant, from their heinous crimes. However, to
characterize these attacks as the actions of “lone wolves” is
merely an attempt to ignore our collective responsibilities to treat
hate groups as terrorists, develop sensible gun laws and ensure that
the vast majority of our citizens have access to the economic ladder.